Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

To declare if any issues to be covered in the Agenda are under party whip.

There were no declarations of party whipping.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

·         Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·         Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

There were no petitions or deputations.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning which outlines the changes made to the draft supplementary planning documents for the regeneration of the Matson and Podsmead estates since the public consultation.

5.1      The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning Strategy presented the report and outlined key elements.

5.2       Councillor Field who represents the Podsmead ward was then invited to present his views. He explained that his experience during his by-election campaign was that, overall, people were content with the Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD). In particular, he felt that the proposals regarding conservation, improving bungalows, and the environmental plans would all be positive developments. Nonetheless, he suggested that certain proposals could be amended. For example, whilst he welcomed the proposals to carry out work on some of the bungalows in Podsmead, he stated that the plans could be more expansive. Additionally, he suggested that the green spaces proposals could be improved by including play areas in the plans. Moreover, he advised that the SPD provided a good opportunity to improve transport in the area, aim to open empty shops, as well as making better use of the available space. Lastly, he added that whilst he was happy with the changes overall, he felt that the City Council needed to better communicate with residents to remind them that, at this stage in the process, these were aspirations which were not set in stone

5.3      The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning Strategy, Councillor Gravells highlighted that this was a draft response to the original document, and so it was important that the appropriate language was used. He then thanked the Committee, the Chair, Gloucester City Homes and the planning department for the work involved in producing the SPD.

5.4      Councillor Gravells then moved the discussion to the public consultation which had been carried out. He noted that there had been 366 comments, with the majority of these focused on open spaces. He brought the Committees’ attention to Section 3.11 of the report which detailed the key proposed changes following the consultation, and in particular wanted to highlight the removal of the ‘one move only’ approach.

5.5      The Principal Planning Officer then addressed the Committee. She advised that the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government had published the National Design Guide, and that reference would be made to this within the SPD before the Council meeting on the 21^st of November 2019. Furthermore, she informed the Committee that they were still awaiting an update on the open space plan. Finally, she added that Officers were in contact with Gloucester City Homes on the issue of ownership of the properties. This would help to highlight where the bungalows are, as well enabling Officers to understand the current mix of properties.

5.6      Councillor Haigh thanked Officers for the development of the SPD. She then outlined what she thought were some of the highlights in the SPD. Firstly, she was pleased with what she felt was a measured approach taken in removing the framework plans. Secondly, she was of the view that the removal of the one move only approach would allow for greater flexibility and was thus to be welcomed. Thirdly, she was pleased with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

25^th of November 2019.